Post navigation

Al-Qaeda Flag Flies Above the Libyan flag in Libya

It was here at the courthouse in Benghazi where the first spark of the Libyan revolution ignited. It’s the symbolic seat of the revolution; post-Gaddafi Libya’s equivalent of Egypt’s Tahrir Square. … according to multiple eyewitnesses—myself included—one can now see both the Libyan rebel flag andthe flag of al Qaeda fluttering atop Benghazi’s courthouse.

According to one Benghazi resident, Islamists driving brand-new SUVs and waving the black al Qaeda flag drive the city’s streets at night shouting, “Islamiya, Islamiya! No East, nor West,” a reference to previous worries that the country would be bifurcated between Gaddafi opponents in the east and the pro-Gaddafi elements in the west. (more)

Back in March I warned of the Al Qaeda leadership and influence in the oppostion to Qaddafi, here and hereand here in April. Obama’s support was dangerous, especially coming fresh on the heels of the heel’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the sanction of the Islamic mullahcracy in Iran.

Earlier this week, I went to the Benghazi courthouse and confirmed the rumors: an al Qaeda flag was clearly visible; its Arabic script declaring that “there is no God but Allah” and a full moon underneath. When I tried to take pictures, a Salafi-looking guard, wearing a green camouflage outfit, rushed towards me and demanded to know what I was doing. My response was straightforward: I was taking a picture of the flag. He gave me an intimidating look and hissed, “Whomever speaks ill of this flag, we will cut off his tongue. I recommend that you don’t publish these. You will bring trouble to yourself.”

The province that led the rebellion against Gaddafi sent the largest number of al-Qaeda fighters to Iraq to wage jihad against Americans of any place in the world

The leader of the Transitional National Council, Moustafa Abdul-Jalil, says Sharia will be the basis for the new government

Sharia institutionalizes discrimination against women and non-Muslims and denies the freedom of speech and the freedom of conscience

Libya, like Tunisia and Egypt, is heading toward becoming an Islamic state

Vice explains many of the ties:

It isn’t uncommon to discover rebels with radical backgrounds. In an off-the-record interview, one NTC member spoke casually of his past, explaining that the Gaddafi regime blacklisted him from the country for his ties to LIFG. He told me of his close association with Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the infamous “blind cleric” jailed for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, who he helped ferry across the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan during the mujahedeen fight against the Soviet Union.